1 Corinthians 15:50–57; 2 Corinthians 5:1–8; 1 Peter 1:3–9; Revelation 21–22

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1 Corinthians 15:50–57

Mystery and Victory

50 I tell you this, brothers: qflesh and blood rcannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. sWe shall not all sleep, tbut we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For uthe trumpet will sound, and vthe dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and wthis mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

xDeath is swallowed up in victory.

55  yO death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?

56 The sting of death is sin, and zthe power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, awho gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.


2 Corinthians 5:1–8

Our Heavenly Dwelling

For we know that if kthe tent that is lour earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ma house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent nwe groan, longing to oput on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on1 we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdenednot that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal pmay be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, qwho has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

So we are always of good courage. We know that rwhile we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for swe walk by faith, not tby sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we uwould rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.


1 Peter 1:3–9

Born Again to a Living Hope

gBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! hAccording to his great mercy, ihe has caused us to be born again to a living hope jthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to kan inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and lunfading, mkept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded nthrough faith for a salvation oready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by pvarious trials, so that qthe tested genuineness of your faithmore precious than gold that perishes rthough it is tested by sfiremay be found to result in tpraise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. uThough you have not seen him, you love him. vThough you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining wthe outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.


Revelation 21–22

The New Heaven and the New Earth

Then I saw ya new heaven and a new earth, for zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, fthe dwelling place1 of God is with man. He will gdwell with them, and they will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ideath shall be no more, jneither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

And khe who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I lam making all things new. Also he said, Write this down, for mthese words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, nIt is done! oI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. pTo the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. qThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and rI will be his God and she will be my son. tBut as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, utheir portion will be in vthe lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is wthe second death.

The New Jerusalem

Then came xone of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ythe seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you zthe Bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 And ahe carried me away in the Spirit to ba great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 chaving the glory of God, dits radiance elike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, fwith twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve gfoundations, and hon them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And the one who spoke with me ihad a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by jhuman measurement, which is also kan angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of ljasper, while the city was pure gold, like lclear glass. 19 mThe foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and nthe street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 And oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, 25 and tits gates will never be shut by dayand uthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s wbook of life.

The River of Life

Then the angel6 showed me xthe river of ythe water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of zthe street of the city; aalso, on either side of the river, bthe tree of life7 with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were cfor the healing of the nations. dNo longer will there be anything accursed, but ethe throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and fhis servants will worship him. gThey will see his face, and hhis name will be on their foreheads. And inight will be no more. They will need no light of lamp jor sun, for kthe Lord God will be their light, and lthey will reign forever and ever.

Jesus Is Coming

And he said to me, mThese words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of nthe spirits of the prophets, ohas sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.

And behold, pI am coming soon. qBlessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

I, rJohn, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, sI fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, sbut he said to me, You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those mwho keep the words of this book. Worship God.

10 And he said to me, tDo not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 uLet the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.

12 Behold, vI am coming soon, wbringing my recompense with me, xto repay each one for what he has done. 13 yI am the Alpha and the Omega, zthe first and the last, athe beginning and the end.

14 Blessed are those who bwash their robes,8 so that they may have the right to cthe tree of life and that dthey may enter the city by the gates. 15 eOutside are fthe dogs gand sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

16 hI, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things ifor the churches. I am jthe root and kthe descendant of David, lthe bright morning star.

17 The Spirit and mthe Bride say, Come. And let the one who hears say, Come. And nlet the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the owater of life without price.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: pif anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in qthe tree of life and in rthe holy city, which are described in this book.

20 He who testifies to these things says, Surely sI am coming soon. Amen. tCome, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.9 Amen.